


Dimmed Lights

by unxpctedlygreat (Yurika_Schiffer)



Category: Bleach
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:08:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22306225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yurika_Schiffer/pseuds/unxpctedlygreat
Summary: This particular event usually wouldn’t have been monitored, but it was held in Karakura so the risk was quite high and thus required as much caution and attention as they could give.That meant sending two captains and some high-ranking officers from their respective Divisions.
Relationships: Hitsugaya Toushirou/Kyouraku Shunsui
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	Dimmed Lights

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a little thing I wrote because two days ago, the ship hit me in the face while I was playing Bleach Brave Souls and I really wanted to write something for them. It's my first time writing anything for Bleach in like 10 years, so I hope the characters don't seem too OoC!  
> Hope you enjoy ♥

Operations like this one, where they were sent to the World of the Living to watch over a given group of humans to ensure their safety, were quite rare and for that, Toshiro was thankful.

This particular event— some gala reception for a charity, from what he remembered— usually wouldn’t have been monitored. But it was held in Karakura, who by now was known for its prominent risk of being attacked by Hollows and other ill-intended creatures and for its amazingly high number of people possessing great amounts of Spiritual Pressure. So the risk was quite high and thus required as much caution and attention as they could give.

That meant sending two captains— Toshiro thought it might be a little too much, but who was he to tell Captain-Commander Yamamoto that he was overdoing it— and some high-ranking officers from their respective Divisions.

From where he was currently standing in the crowd, in his gigai and in fancy clothes provided by Urahara, Toshiro could spot several of their subordinates in the same situation as him.

They had decided to divide their forces in two: about a quarter of them would attend the reception disguised as humans while the rest would keep watch outside and inside the building in their shinigami form.

That decision had been made by the captain Toshiro was to work with, and he hadn’t really had a word to say in it. He wasn’t exactly happy about that.

He searched for his fellow captain in the crowd, his eyes quickly scanning the people around him. It honestly shouldn’t be that hard to find such a tall and broad-shouldered man with such long hair— and yet Toshiro couldn’t find him from where he was.

He could only hope that the Captain of the Eighth hadn’t bailed on him.

Toshiro sighed and turned around, facing the window. From here he could see several of his men keeping watch, though they still talked and laughed among themselves. He knew his men well enough to know that it didn’t mean they were slacking off, and that they were absolutely keeping an ear and an eye out in case anything happened. He was proud of them, honestly.

Feeling a presence behind him— he didn’t recognize the Spiritual Pressure but it wasn’t anywhere high enough to be a shinigami— he turned around to face the newcomer.

One of the many reasons he hated having to attend the party was that he didn’t like crowds to begin with, and attending the gala was a sure way to have to interact with the guests at some point. He’d been left alone for the greatest part of the evening so far and had hoped it would go on that way, but he guessed his luck had ran out.

The man in front of him looked about fifty and stood rather confidently, smiling at him in what Toshiro assumed to be a charming way. The conversation that would follow could go two ways: either the man saw him some kind of lost kid who didn’t want to be there— which was only true for the “not wanting to be there” part— or…

“Well, what’s dashing young man like you doing in such a boring place?”

The tone of the man and the curve of his smile told Toshiro that he definitely did not see him as a lost kid— which he might have been grateful for in any other circumstances.

He placated a polite smile on his face, hoping that the obvious falseness of it would drive the man away. It only seemed to make the man more interested, if the way he leaned in and narrowed his eyes was any indication.

Just his luck.

“I’m very concerned about climate change and the melting of the poles,” Toshiro replied neutrally. It wasn’t a lie, either, just not the actual reason he was there.

“It’s nice to see young people getting involved to help the planet,” the man replied, still smiling. “Are you here by yourself?”

No, but it would be pretty embarrassing to have to fetch one of his men to avoid getting hit on by a human who either couldn’t read body language or didn’t care.

“I—”

“Actually, he’s with me.”

The deep voice of Captain Kyouraku startled him a little, especially as it sounded a lot closer to him than he remembered the other captain being— which had been not anywhere close to him.

The human man startled as well, not expecting someone like Kyouraku to suddenly appear next to Toshiro. He looked a little lost for a moment but regained his composure easily enough.

The two men gauged each other in silence and Toshiro considered slipping away while they seemed busy, but Kyouraku put a hand on the small of his back before he could move.

“Oh, are you this young man’s father?” the human asked, his smile twitching with irritation. Apparently, he hadn’t liked being interrupted.

His question made Kyouraku laugh.

“My, my! You’re vexing me there. Do I look so old that I’d have a son of his age?” The hand on Toshiro’s back pulled him closer to Kyouraku and he went easily— he wasn’t about to throw away whatever help he could get from the other captain. “No, this _dashing young man_ here is my partner.”

The choice of words was intentional, Toshiro knew. It told them both that Kyouraku had been listening to their conversation since it started— how had Toshiro not noticed him around?— but also indicated that the human was stepping on their boundaries. Nevermind the fact that the Captain of the Eighth had just claimed to be his partner— romantic, very evidently— he especially pressed that he would _not_ let anyone get their hands on Toshiro.

Which, Toshiro found, pleased him more than it probably should.

Suddenly, he was very much aware of the warmth coming from Kyouraku’s body where his side was touching the older captain. He felt a flush creep on his face and hoped it would go unnoticed.

The human glanced at him— much to Toshiro’s displeasure, he seemed to take note of his blush— then back at Kyouraku. His smile lost the irritation that had seeped in and instead, he looked disappointed but accepting.

“I see. Can’t say I’m not jealous that you’re in such good company but I can recognize when it’s pointless to push.” The man turned around and, before moving to leave, looked back at them. “I’d advise you not to leave him alone like this, you’re going to break a lot of hearts if you do.” And then with a laugh, he made his way into the crowd.

Toshiro resisted the urge to hide his face behind a hand, his blush more prominent than before from embarrassment. Instead, he closed his eyes and breathed in, trying to calm himself and will his skin to go back to its natural color.

It didn’t help the matter that Kyouraku still had his hand on his back and wasn’t stepping away from him.

Toshiro would have preferred to have a sentimental crisis— well, never— but especially not when on a mission and especially not when it would be hard to explain why he was running away so quickly from the other.

He felt Kyouraku lean closer.

“Are you feeling alright, Hitsugaya?”

He was close enough to him that Toshiro could feel his hot breath over his ear. That, mixed with the deep voice of the other captain, only made his blush worse. This was _definitely_ not the moment to have a sentimental crisis.

“I– yes.”

_Very smooth, Toshiro. Very smooth._

“It’s just a little… hot. In there. You know I don’t really do well with heat.”

He felt the rumble of Kyouraku’s chuckle more than he heard it. By now, he was pretty sure his ears were as red as his face. They definitely prickled like they were.

“I’d offer to take you outside but unfortunately, we have to stay inside to keep watch,” Kyouraku said, still not moving away from Toshiro. “Maybe we should go get some refreshments?”

Toshiro would have liked it better if Kyouraku had offered to get them by himself, as it would have given him some time to get a hold of himself, but as it were, he was unable to find a good reason to refuse the invitation and simply nodded.

On their way to the tables where snacks and drinks were served, Kyouraku didn’t let go of him a single second. His hand did leave the small of his back a few times, mostly to pull him closer by the shoulder to avoid knocking into the crowd they walked through.

Toshiro was pretty sure he saw some of their men around, either talking among themselves or with the other guests, and really hoped none of them were paying attention to the captains. He wasn’t sure what concerned him the most: that they might see the mess he currently was or that they might guess exactly _why_ he was a blushing mess.

“Here,” Kyouraku said, handing out a glass to Toshiro.

He was thankful to note that it was water and not alcohol. Kyouraku grabbed a glass of champagne for himself, rolling the pale liquid quietly and smelling it before taking a sip.

“You should relax a little, you know,” the older man said in a quiet voice so that only Toshiro would hear. “Nothing’s happened so far and we have more than competent men keeping watch everywhere. And as you mentioned yourself, two captains for a mission like this is kinda overdoing it.”

“We’re still on duty, though.”

“Always so serious!” Kyouraku chuckled.

“And you, not enough,” Toshiro retorted.

This made the Captain of the Eighth smile wide. He caught Toshiro’s eyes and Toshiro felt his breath stop.

“Oh, I can be very serious when it matters, Hitsugaya.” He leaned close, his face mere centimeters away from Toshiro’s. “I do hope you know that.”

If his blush has faded at all, it sure came back in full force. Toshiro’s heart started beating hard in his chest and he was worried the other might hear it.

His eyes wide open, he watched as Kyouraku moved his face closer and closer still, until he was just a breath away from his lips.

“ _You do look dashing tonight._ ”

When the lips of the other man pressed against his, his eyes fell closed instantly. He could hear the rapid thumping of his heart in his ears and cursed his heart away.

It didn’t last long, it was just a peck on the lips and nothing inappropriate— they _were_ still in the middle of a gala reception in the middle of a crowd— but Toshiro still felt as if his chest would explode and his face would combust.

Pulling away just the barest, Kyouraku whispered against his lips.

“I’m sorry for not asking before kissing you, I hope you can forgive me.”

It took several moments for Toshiro to be able to form a coherent thought, let alone be able to voice it; and when he did, it was a mumble of words that didn’t exactly make a sentence.

“I– That’s– it’s– it’s fine.”

Kyouraku straightened up and smiled at him lazily, looking all too much like the cat that got the cream.

“I promise I’ll ask, next time. Well now, should we make a round to check how the men are faring?”

He didn’t let Toshiro time to protest— though Toshiro didn’t think he was in any state to do so anyway— and pulled him close again to lead him through the crowd.

As they walked through the people, Toshiro glanced up at Kyouraku’s face. He looked unbothered and like nothing out of the ordinary happened, like he hadn’t just kissed Toshiro’s brain away. But the hand on his back was heavy and warm and proved more than enough that the man had meant the kiss.

 _Next time_ , he had said, huh. Toshiro was curious to know what the next time would be like, then.


End file.
